1. Field of the Invention
The subject integrated onboard video data capture system is generally directed to an onboard computer-controlled system for operation on a designated host vehicular platform. More specifically, the video data capture system is an onboard system which has in place the hardware and software components to capture both video and/or audio records of various events occurring in and around the given vehicular platform, efficiently store such records in digital form upon a removable medium, and establish reliable, noise-resistant communications links, both internal and external to the given system.
The need exists in various applications to comprehensively and reliably capture and save for later retrieval or transfer certain video and/or audio records of activity occurring in and about a given vehicular platform. One such application is found in law enforcement, wherein jurisdictions invariably dispatch fleets of vehicular platforms such as suitably equipped ‘squad cars’ or patrol ‘cruisers.’ Capturing timely video and/or audio records through such dispatched patrol vehicles could potentially yield a wealth of evidentiary material.
Accordingly, an increasing majority of jurisdictions are equipping their fleets of patrol vehicles with at least some video and/or audio acquisition capability. In more than a few jurisdictions, the acquisition systems installed in the patrol vehicles are somewhat comprehensive, including such components as camcorders, voice radios, video tape recorders, and portable computers (which may or may not be coupled to the other components). Any time the officer(s) assigned to a given patrol vehicle engages in a law enforcement activity like making a routine traffic stop, conducting a search or arrest, or engaging in a chase to apprehend a fleeing suspect, the video and/or audio acquisition units are operated to generate a real time objective indication of what actually transpired as events were unfolding. The acquired records are typically recorded on a magnetic tape medium and periodically removed for subsequent archiving or replay.
Among other things, such video and audio records have proven invaluable in identifying and prosecuting the actual perpetrators of unlawful acts. They have also proven helpful in exposing law enforcement officers' own misguided or negligent conduct. Such records, however, are only valuable to the extent that they are timely acquired, and saved with high fidelity and integrity. The challenges of meeting this criteria in practice are both significant and many. Often, the actuation of the appropriate video/audio acquisition equipment is not well enough automated to ensure that operation of the equipment occurs at the appropriate times. This leads all too often to a loss of recording opportunity or, conversely, to an undue consumption of record storage capacity by excessive extraneous recording at uneventful times.
It is no answer to rely primarily upon manual actuation of the equipment. Aside from being subject to normal human error, manual actuation requires at least some conscious effort. Yet, a human operator's primary focus invariably falls upon the events of interest that are actually transpiring. One cannot reasonably expect a human operator to have with any degree of consistency the presence of mind—or even the opportunity—to pause and carry out the system actuation steps when confronted with the events. This is especially so in the context of law enforcement, wherein the cost of even a momentary interruption of an officer's attention or hesitation in his/her responsive actions may very well jeopardize human life—many times, the officer's own.
Even with reliable and timely actuation, though, it is essential that the video and/or audio records be acquired in sufficiently comprehensive and clearly reproducible manner. One or more strategically situated acquisition units must be appropriately controlled, and the information acquired with a high degree of resolution, resistance to noise and interference, and other such properties to yield records which are later actually usable. Such components as a wireless radio or microphone employed for audio acquisition are typically quite vulnerable to noise and interference given the prevailing frequency bandwidth limitations and the crowded radio signal traffic within available frequency ranges. Moreover, the storage of acquired video/audio information onto a magnetic tape medium imposes highly restrictive capacity limitations, relieved only by either sacrificing the video/audio quality of the stored record or employing a tape having extraordinary length. Neither option is a readily practicable one.
In addition to the timeliness of actuation and preservation of reproducible fidelity, it is essential in law enforcement and other applications that the integrity of the acquired and stored records be carefully and continually maintained. The records must be guarded against both accidental corruption or erasure, as well as against intentional tampering.
These requirements present further practical difficulties, not the least of which is the need to adequately safeguard the records maintaining the ready removability from the vehicular platform of the storage medium. Practical difficulties also include the vulnerability of the stored records to later tampering by otherwise authorized personnel, as well as by unauthorized personnel. The threat of such tampering is unfortunately very real, especially in law enforcement applications. Those against whom the captured records would serve as culpatory evidence of misconduct would naturally possess the incentive to alter or eliminate the records. In some cases, those individuals may themselves be law enforcement officers whose improper, unauthorized actions may have been captured on video or audio. They may even be officers having the authority to later access and retrieve the stored video/audio records. While safeguards against unauthorized access to the storage tapes are known in the art (like physically disposing the storage tape(s) within an access-controlled lock box in the given vehicular platform) the tape may still be altered or erased notwithstanding the access control measures employed by one entrusted with authorized access.
These and other practical difficulties cannot be addressed by simply amassing within a given vehicular platform equipment known in the art to collect the set of necessary capabilities. Available space within a given vehicular platform suitable for the incorporation of such extraneous equipment is typically found to be at a premium. This is, again, particularly true in law enforcement applications. It is not uncommon for many law enforcement officers to spend most of their hours while on duty in and around their patrol cruisers. Indeed, the very nature of their primary duties requires law enforcement officers to spend as much of their on duty time as possible in the field, or patrolling a ‘beat,’ so they may engage in actual ‘policing.’ With the proliferation of utility equipment in the cabins of patrol cruisers, the cabins are popularly referred to as ‘mobile offices,’ and are increasingly utilized as such. As with any personal office, such ‘mobile offices’ fail to be less than fully effective when overly cluttered and complicated in the arrangement of various equipment and controls. Onboard video recording systems are known in the art.
2. Prior Art
Onboard video recording systems are known in the art. The best prior art known to Applicant includes U.S. Pat. No. 6,161,066; No. 5,926,210; No. 6,246,933; No. 5,007,050; No. 6,202,008; No. 4,949,186; No. 6,188,939; No. 5,491,464; No. 5,689,442; No. 5,781,437; No. 6,037,977; No. 6,037,991; No. 6,262,764; No. 5,978,017; No. 6,298,290; No. 4,843,463; No. 6,073,063; No. 5,848,367; No. 5,794,164; No. 5,767,788; and, No. 6,204,844.
There is no onboard computer-based system heretofore known, however, having the combination of features for comprehensively applying, efficiently storing, and reliably preserving and communicating video or audio records found in the subject integrated onboard video data capture system.
There is, therefore, a need for a system which acquires and stores video and/or audio records of certain law enforcement related activities occurring in and around a vehicular platform, and which operates simply yet efficiently and reliably. There is a need for such a system which provides timely actuation control over video and/or audio record acquisition and compact storage of such records in a form which permits high quality retrieval and reproduction, while safely preserving the stored records' integrity. There is, further, a need for such a system which provides the required capabilities without unduly cluttering and complicating the vehicular platform's cabin. There is, moreover, a need for a plurality of such systems capable of remotely communicating with one another so as to enable the exchange of video and/or audio records therebetween.